About

Archive

We took a three day, two night trip to Hershey Park, which bills itself as the sweetest place on earth. The weather was perfect for water rides, roller coasters, and chocolate.

After vowing never to ride it again 2 years ago, Thing 4 reconsidered and gave the Sooper Dooper Looper another go. As the name suggests, it’s a loop coaster but tame enough to be dubbed a “family ride”. SuburbanMommy did not ride this time.

We toured Chocolate World and made our own candy bars. Rode water slides, tubed in the lazy river, and got dizzy on the Scrambler.

We found a fun activity for the summer – Loudoun Junior Golf League. Weekly 9 hole matches as a fun introduction to golf. It’s all part of my grand plan to be able to play more golf myself, some time way in the future.

SuburbanDaddy is one of the tournament officials. Which means I get a free golf cart, keep everyone’s score, and make sure nobody is cheating.

I had lived in the Washington DC area for over twenty years and never experienced the most quintessential DC tourist attraction – Cherry Blossoms.

We went on a weekday during spring break to avoid the huge crowds. March was unusually warm and the blossoms were near peak.

We took the Metro from Reston to avoid traffic and parking. It was our first time taking the metro as family. I have to say driving, even with the traffic, is still easier, and cheaper, when you have 6 people.

Complaints were rampant as we had to do a lot of walking and standing in big crowds. But we can at least check Cherry Blossoms off the bucket list.

The most memorable part was probably right after taking this picture, when a tourist lost her phone in the water leaning over the railing trying to get a good angle for a picture.

It was unbelievably warm on December 27, so we took a trip drive to the National Zoo. It was crowded and smelly, but we got to see the panda moving instead of sleeping for a change. And I was able to log 18,000 steps in shorts in December!

Today is a level 2 snow day. Level 1 is when the public elementary school is closed and Things 1-3 are home from school. A level 2 snow day is when preschool is also closed and Thing 4 is home with her brothers.

We have had eleven level 1 snow days so far this year but only a few level 2’s. When there is a snow day, I send an email to work that I am “WFH today” which means I’ll be working from home. I can generally attend meetings by phone, answer emails, and maybe get some actual work done.

But that is for a level 1 snow day. With a level 1 there are several long stretches of opportunity while the kids are in the basement and getting along. There are some interruptions to make everyone lunch, breaking up a few fights, and enforcing some structure like reading or cleaning up time, but otherwise manageable.

Level 2 is a different story. Even though I’m officially WFH, the W part is done in quick 5 minute bursts amidst constant interruptions and a noise distraction level as if I were working in the middle of kids birthday party after the cake was served.

At some point they will want to go outside in the snow, which is a reasonably quiet stretch I look forward to. But it comes at a price. That price is the aftermath of snow boots and soaking wet gloves and jackets tracked all over the house, and the inevitable fighting and crying when they eventually come in because someone got hit by a snowball or had snow dumped down their back and now they are tired and want food and hot chocolate right now.

All of that usually happens precisely when I start a conference call. So, yes, even though I am officially “working” from home today, I do not expect to get anything done.